Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: MFJ-259B

Category: Antenna Analyzers

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : MFJ-259B
Reviews: 238MSRP: 259.95
Description:
HF/VHF Antenna Analyser
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-259B
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
152384.2
WA6IPD Rating: 2012-06-29
A must have Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Should have purchased one years ago and for $219.95 delivered to the door it's a steal (Gigaparts). I did not purchase the coils used for grid dipping, they are easy to make and I only wanted the low frequency one. I used a half inch form two inches long then beginning on one end tightly wound 14 turns #20 enameled wire. It fit perfectly into the end of a PL-259. A little heat shrink spaghetti and I was done. I tested it on home brew dipole traps and it was perfect. I could also see the difference between coax traps and my hand wound traps. The Q in the coax traps is very low and I would never use them. I also connected the coil to a short piece of RG-58 via a barrel connector and that made checking the traps even easier.
THEDESERTTORTOISE Rating: 2012-06-13
It's price makes it a 5 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Price.. did I say $219 from a prominent dealer brand new. I'll be honest... the price makes this analyzer real nice. I wanted something that would cover 2 meter and in the line I preferred.. OK, I like the features of Rig-expert the same features would have cost me about $500... did I say price? And, really. You may have to use a scratch pad and pencil but the 259B will do it all. I love my analyzer... I saved enough to build two really nice antennas.... and I have to say, that's what it's really about.. Ron K5ATE
WC6Q Rating: 2012-06-08
Works.... Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have yet to have any issues with this. I use it to match up my buddistick and it nails it everytime.

One note, the case is a bit odd. It's like they didn't take the time to engineer a clean fit for the back cover. But it works.

Also don't order from MFJ direct. They never have anything in stock, and their customer service is lackluster. Order from HRO or another dealer.
VK3YP Rating: 2012-05-25
Junk Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Purchased new one year ago. Used it once (worked fine) and put it away in draw. Took it out to test a dipole and it's faulty showing a full scale deflection on swr and impedance (open load).
It's going in the bin and I am getting a RigExpert instead.
K8JHR Rating: 2012-05-23
Seems OK... works as it should Time Owned: more than 12 months.
OK... this seems to work as it should, and has given me no problems. Why do I give it a "4" rating? Because I also have a RigExpert AA-230 which runs circles around it. The AA-230 is far easier to set up, and it has way more fetures, flexibility, and precise management. The MFJ is more difficult to tune a specific frequency. The MFJ does not give a graphic representation of a range of frequencies. It cannot save its data for later download and analysis and display on a computer. It cannot act as a Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR) and it cannot display SWR and impedance for five frequencies at once.

So, the MFJ-259B is a good analyzer... just a good analyzer, not a great analyzer for the money. But good is good, and a moniker of great belongs to the competition. Of the extra cost is an object, then this MFJ unit will get the job done... just not as quickly or as easily.

Just MY take... // James - K8JHR //
KI6OSH Rating: 2012-01-12
No complaints Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Bought this back in June 2011 and have used it frequently. Just installed a Mosley mini 32-A 10-15-20 meter beam and this sure helped quite a bit. No problems so far.....great buy for the money. I'm fairly new and this is a must have, for sure.
VE4TTH Rating: 2011-12-08
Get one! You need it! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After reading the bad reviews, I still ordered mine and figured I would rely on my technical abilities to spot or prevent any mishaps. When it arrived I opened the unit up and closely inspected it for ANY signs of potential problems. I saw none, zilch, nada! So I reasembled it with a set of batteries and now 2 months later I have loaned it out to half a dozen local ham buddies, all of whom have nothing but praise for just how easy and fast it makes tuning an antenna. This was my experience as well, and I find myself "tinkering" with my antenna a lot more than I would have if I didn't have this analyzer.

I chose this unit, over the next one up that also worked on 70cm, because right now, I just don't do anything now or in the forseeable future on that band to warrant the extra cost.

Read the instructions!! then after you've played with it, read the instructions again! I was having what I thought of as an issue with the unit. After a short while the needles would drop to 0 and it would flash a three letter PWR message. I though OH OH, what did I break? It turns out that it goes into battery save mode if you don't turn the dials and fiddle with it for a while. The battery save mode can be turned off when you first power it up, or just press a button to wake it up when it does go to sleep to save energy.

Sure their are bad reviews, but I have learned over the years that sometimes the error in a product, is in its inability to withstand human intervention. That being said, it is prudent to closely inspect ANY item that is of sufficient complexity, for damage resulting from the "gentle" handling of carriers. You will save yourself a lot of grief, and keep your blood pressure in check.

Peter
VE4TTH
N4WEQ Rating: 2011-12-08
Fire Bomb Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
• An hour after receiving the 259B, from UPS, I opened up the carton and unpacked the unit.

• Heard something inside rattling.

• Took the cover off and gave it a couple good shake. Nothing found.

• Installed (10) Duracell AA batteries.

• Turned the unit on and connected to my VHF antenna. Unit worked okay. SWR looked great. Turned it off.

• Connected it to my 20M dipole antenna and turned the unit on.

• Smoke started rolling out of the case. I thought it would catch on fire before I could get the (10) screws out and the case open. Talk about a HOT potato.

Finally got to the battery case and with a screwdriver popped one of the cells out. The whole plastic battery case was melted.

Anyway, the good news is the boys at HRO Atlanta are going to make it right. They are going to provide a full refund along with return postage and even reimburse me for the blown battery cells.

After this experience I'm not sure if I will ever purchase a MFJ product again.
KE4SWC Rating: 2011-12-01
Works fine Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought it from gigaparts on sale. Tested it with a dummy load right out of the box - worked fine. Compared it to an older 259 on my Buckmaster OCF dipole and the readings were the same and as I expected.

Works as advertised. Fit and finish are fine.
N6WBL Rating: 2011-11-22
Great product Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I use this portable quite a bit when using my Mini-Buddipole, and I have a lot of extra parts for trying different configurations. This allows me to get setup and tuned quick and easy. Always spot on when I double check with the radio's SWR meter. There are fancier options for a bit more, but I like that the MFJ is ready to go as soon as you power it up. And the analog meters help with quickly dialing in where its resonant so you can adjust. Picked mine up on sale and have been very happy with it ever since. One of my favorite pieces of gear.